# Visits and Invites via Outlook Add-In
Easily schedule and modify visits of different types, manage visitor lists, include event notes, and send invitation emails — all from the familiar Outlook interface you already know and trust.
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Detailed instructions for **deploying, verifying, and troubleshooting** the add-in are available in the[ deployment guide](https://docs.friendlyway.com/visitor-management/creating-a-visit-and-inviting-visitors/visits-and-invites-via-outlook/outlook-add-in-deployment-guide). Note that centralized deployments require administrator rights to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
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Once the add-in has been deployed and you have refreshed/restarted Outlook, the add-in will be available on **both web and desktop** Outlook clients.
## Accessing the add-in and signing in
1. Sign in to the [Outlook web app](https://outlook.office.com/) with your Microsoft 365 account or launch the Outlook desktop application.
2. Open the **Calendar** view and start creating a **new meeting** as you normally do. Enter:
* Title of the visit
* Attendee email addresses in the Required field
* Start and end time for the planned visit
* Location (optional)
* Email body/notes to the visitors (optional)
3. In the ribbon menu, look for the **friendlyway** button, then click it to activate and use the add-in within your meeting.
4. When activating the add-in for the first time in the current session, you will be prompted to authenticate. Enter your user’s credentials from the friendlyway Cloud Platform (the same email and password you use to access the friendlyway web app) and click **Log In**.
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**Note:** The add-in also supports single sign-on (SSO) for seamless user authentication. To use the SSO log-in, you should first enable an external identity provider and configure authentication settings on the Platform (**Account → Settings → Authentication**). Contact [friendlyway support](https://helpdesk.friendlyway.com/) for assistance or more information.
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## Creating a visit with the add-in
Within your Outlook meeting, the friendlyway add-in displays a panel on the right-hand side, where you can enter and edit visit information for syncing with the Platform.
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1. Enter event details on the **Visit** tab:
* Select the **visit type** from the drop-down list matched with the Platform.
* Edit the **visit title** if needed.
* The **visit date and time** are matched with your Outlook Calendar meeting.
* Add internal **visit notes** visible to users on the Platform (other visit organizers) if needed.
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**Note:** The add-in supports custom visit forms — useful when you need to change the standard data fields or include additional ones. For assistance or more information, contact [friendlyway support](https://helpdesk.friendlyway.com/).
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2. On the **Visitors** tab, you can:
* Edit visitors' first and last names (if you want them to be different from your default Outlook contacts).
* Select which visitors should receive personal invitation emails from the Platform.
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**Note:** You can exclude visitors with a specific email domain from the recipient list of invitation emails — useful when you want to avoid sending invitations to hosts or employees listed as “visitors” for reference purposes. To use this option, specify the excluded email domains on the Platform: go to **Check-in → Settings → Integrations,** then fill out the domain field in the **Outlook calendar integration** section.
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Be sure to check and adjust [personal invitation templates](/visitor-management/check-in-module-settings/visit-notifications.md#personal-invitation) if necessary.
Note that the selected visitors will receive **two emails** upon visit creation:
1. **Your branded invitation from the Platform**, containing a visitor's personal access (PIN/QR) code and/or pre-registration link.
2. **A standard meeting confirmation from Outlook**, which may contain your additional notes shared with all recipients.
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3. Once you have confirmed the visit/visitor data, click **Create** and wait for the confirmation message **"Successfully saved"** to appear in a pop-up below. The visit is then saved on the Platform, and automatic invitation emails are sent to the specified visitors.
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Closing the add-in window before the confirmation message pops up will result in an unsaved visit.
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3. Click **Send** in your Outlook Meeting view to save the meeting in your Calendar as you normally do. Automatic meeting confirmations are sent to all attendees.
4. You can now find the newly created visit and edit its details on the Platform: go to **Check-in → Visits.**
## Modifying or cancelling a visit with the add-in
The Outlook add-in also works with the visits you have previously created using it.
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Visits created on the Platform cannot be added to your Outlook for editing (the sync is one-directional).
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1. Open an existing meeting you created in Outlook Calendar and activate the add-in panel.
2. Make the necessary edits - for instance, change the visit time or add new visitors.
3. Click **Update** to sync all changes to the Platform.
4. If you need to delete the visit altogether, click **Cancel visit** at the bottom of the add-in panel. This will delete the visit on the Platform (simply cancelling the corresponding Outlook meeting doesn't affect the Platform).
## Signing out of the add-in
You can sign out at any time by clicking **Log out** at the top-right corner of the add-in panel.
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